Wherever We Go
by EmeldaJones
Summary: Payson and Sasha's lives ten years after the 2012 Olympics are not what they expected, but the journey is just as important as the result. Watch as they live, love and give to those around them.


**A/N: This story will not be your typical Sasha/Payson ship. It is set in 2022, in the middle of an Olympic cycle. To give a little backstory so ages are clear, I've stuck with the eleven year gap between Sasha and Payson. I've set them at 39 and 28 respectively. Please let me know what you think as this is my first shot at writing. I've been reading fanfiction for years and started reading MIOBI right before the second season. So, hopefully enjoy and let me know what you think!**

Sasha Belov was a man of few words. He always had been and he probably always would be. His wife however, apparently couldn't shut-up. He sat in his office with his elbows resting on the smooth metal desk and his head in his hands, listening to his wife of five years on speaker phone.

"Sasha are you even listening?" she asked after a moments pause.

"Yes, Payson," he offered tiredly, "I am listening but Daniel is old enough to make his own decisions and..."

"You are his father." She interrupted. He could tell by her tone that she felt her statement was final and no argument would sway her. For years they had struggled with the differences between her upbringing and his and it seemed as though that wasn't changing anytime soon.

"Ill talk to him." Sasha said, clearly wanted to escape the conversation they had been having daily for weeks. "What time will you be back? Its your turn for afternoon conditioning." He complained teasingly.

"You love conditioning" She laughed "I'm walking into the doctors office now. I should be back in time to take the sixes at two.

"Ms. Keeler." A short, heavy set woman called from the door to her right. Payson stood and walked towards her, slightly nervous. The woman smiled at her in a way that made Payson wish her mom was there. Her name tag read Rosie and she patted Payson gently on the back as she showed her to a room. "The doctor will be in shortly dear." She said and closed the door as Payson sat down.

Payson looked up at the clock. 12:24 she thought. The gymnasts would be in the middle of stretching out after their lunch breaks and Sasha would be working on the plans for Monday. She took a deep breath and looked around the room, absentmindedly reading posters about sexual health, birth control and pregnancy. After reading each poster at least three times she started humming. Halfway through the second chorus of _Fly Me To The Moon_ the doctor opened the door.

"Nice to see you again, Payson." He said with a smile. "Hows everything going?" He sat down on a rolling stool and looked at her expectantly.

"Do you have the results yet?" She blurted out and then stopped at his startled expression. "I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous." She apologized quickly, a hint of red coming to her cheeks as she suddenly found her shoes very interesting.

"Someone should be in soon." He said. "In the meantime, tell me, How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," She sighed. " I really want to be okay with this. Either way, you know? But I'm not. One way I'll be alright and the other I...well I don't know what." She bit her lip and looked at Dr. Mccoy hopefully, as if her entire future rode on his response. However, before he could give it the door was opening again and Rosie handed him a piece of paper without a word. Believing her facial expression to be an indication of the contents of that page, Payson steeled herself for the worst. Dr Mccoy smiled and said the words Payson thought she'd never hear.

" You are still pregnant an everything looks good." After a moment of silence and almost no reaction Payson took a deep breath and quietly asked,

"Will I stay pregnant this time?" She looked down, ringing her hands and trying not to cry.

"You know I can't make promises, Payson," He said with a frown and her heart sunk all the way to her knees, a gut wrenching feeling she had become accustomed to in the last four years. Payson tuned out of what the doctor was saying as she tried to contain the emotions she felt. After the first year of trying to become pregnant they had almost given up. Sasha insisted that she relax, that he loved her regardless of whether they had children. Payson on the other hand, attacked the problem. She visited fertility specialists, following their advice to gain more weight, eat this not that, take this medicine, exercise less, sleep more. Finally Payson got pregnant. Then at four months she miscarried. She got pregnant again, and again at the four month mark, another miscarriage. After seeing what two miscarriages put Payson through, Sasha insisted they stop trying to conceive. This was her third pregnancy since then and this time, she was five months in and the doctor said everything looked good. "Payson?" Dr. McCoy asked, waving his hand in front of her face."Are you feeling okay?" Payson blinked quickly and nodded.

"Should I tell Sasha this time?"

Dr. McCoy smiled, "Payson, I know that you and Sasha have been through alot but I think its time to look towards the future and move away from the past."

"Up!" she said, watching the gymnasts carefully as they lifted their ankles to touch the high bar. "Hold it" She said loudly, stalking between the sets of bars and waiting for someone to falter. After three of the eight girls had to readjust their grips she let them down and checked her watch. " Alright girls, head to Matilda in the annex and send me the sevens." She sad, laughing on the inside as one of the girls rolled her eyes at the mention of ballet. Matilda was the new ballet instructor at the Rock. She was getting great results from the elites and the coaching staff had agreed that the other girls could benefit from some attention from Matilda as well. However, some of the girls were less than thrilled about training that was slow paced and focused on flexibility. As the level sevens finished their conditioning with Payson she looked around the gym. The girls were separated by level and she could practically see the egos inflating as girls looked down on the levels below theirs. She smiled, shaking her head then blew the last whistle of the day. "Round up, girls!" She called and watched the assistant coaches follow her lead. She stood to the side as Sasha gave his weekly lecture on the importance of staying active on the weekend. After the circle dissipated she headed to the office to clean up for the night. When Payson got to the office door she found that Sasha had beaten her there. She stopped, watching her husband scribble furiously in a gymnast's file, making what she was sure would be a change to a routine. When he nodded contentedly he saw her and smiled.

"Hello, love."

"Hey" she smiled back.

"I haven't seen you all afternoon. How was your appointment? He asked as she crossed the room and sat across from him at her desk.

"It was fine. How's Daniel?" she asked boldly, knowing that Sasha still hadn't spoken to him. Sasha ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair and sighed. "Sasha I know you're fighting, but you have to make sure he knows he can come back. How long did it take you to go back to Romania? If your father had let you know he wanted you to come home would it have taken you so long?" She asked, reaching her hand across their desks and touching his forearm.

" I know that you want whats best for him Pay but he has to make his own choices. If his choice to to go to Boston to train, I have to let him go."

"I'm not saying he has to come back, but can you just tell him you love him and that you want him home?" She asked quietly.

"He knows he can come home." He said, his voice rising ever so slightly, letting her know he was on edge.

"Does he? Does Daniel know that even though you got into a screaming math on live TV that you still love him?" she asked, getting increasingly frustrated and standing. "Does he know that even though he hit you he can come home, no questions asked? Does he know that you miss him? That he will always be your son even though"

"Stop, Payson." Sasha ordered, rising angrily. " You do not get to tell me what to do here. You are not his mother." He spat. He knew immediately that he hurt her, but instead of saying anything, he watched her sink to her chair and wipe underneath her eyes, trying not to cry.

"Ill see you at home." She whispered before standing. She put her hand over their car keys briefly before changing her mind and leaving them behind as she walked away.

Less than five minutes later the phone rang. Sasha looked down at the caller ID and pursed his lips before answering.

"Hello Kim"

"Yes I know"

"I will"

"Okay"

"Bye"

Sasha quickly picked up the keys and locked up the gym before heading to the park about a mile away. He was sure that Payson would be there, and as he walked around he saw her sitting at the base of an oak tree, her knees pulled up to her chest and her blond hair down and blowing in the wind. He stood there for a minute, just watching her, trying to figure out what he could possibly say to erase the damage he had done. With his hands in his jean pockets he kicked a rock on the ground before taking a deep breath.

Three years ago, after Payson's second miscarriage, he and Payson had found out they wouldn't be able to have children. While they were heartbroken, he had consoled her with the knowledge that she would always be a mother to the girls at the gym and to Daniel. Daniel was his son by a woman he dated for nearly a year when he was twenty one. A few years after they broke up she died in a car accident and he got the phone call of a lifetime. Daniel had been his ever since, and he had done everything he could to protect him from the public eye. When Sasha came to the Rock, he sent Daniel to live with the one person he could trust with his son; Marty. Daniel lived in Denver until after the first Olympic cycle that Sasha coached through at the Rock. When Daniel turned eight he moved back to Boulder. Sasha bought a house and shortly after, introduced Daniel to Payson when she came to coach at the Rock. At the time Payson was only eighteen, but she handled him having a son with enthusiasm and as Payson and Sasha's relationship grew, so did the relationship she had with Daniel. He knew that motherhood was a low blow to hit Payson with, as they both knew that she was the reason they hadn't been able to have a baby. No matter how upset he was, she always had been and always would be an excellent mother to Daniel and she only wanted what was best for them. He took another deep breath and walked towards Payson. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.

"I know you didn't mean that." She said looking back down at her shoes, waiting for him to confirm.

"I'm so sorry, Pay." He said crouching next to her. "Let's go home" He asked quietly, offering his hand to help her stand. She took it and interlocked her fingers with his as he kissed her temple. They walked quietly to the car and drove home.

Although he apologized, Sasha knew Payson was still upset about their argument and he hoped that the day he had planned for them Sunday would help to change that. Saturday had been spent with Sasha finishing the last of the work that needed done in their attic to winter-proof it while Payson was nowhere to be found. When he woke up she was already gone. When he returned from his morning run, she was in the shower with the bathroom door locked. When he came downstairs for lunch she was in the basement and wasn't hungry. It hadn't taken long for him to get the hint and he left her alone the rest of the day. He woke up in the middle of the night in a panic, finding that she had never come to bed. He wandered the house only to find her asleep in Daniel's room, a pile of tissues on the floor next to the bed. He quickly picked them up and covered her with the quilt that was folded at the end of the bed. It was then, after he moved to go out of the room that the full weight of the effect his words had on her hit him. There was only one thing Sasha could think of to do.  
>"Marty?" He asked gruffly, attempting to remain nonchalant.<p>

"Sasha? Everything okay? What time is it there?" Marty asked rapidly. Sasha could tell he was busy because of the background noise.

"Late or early I guess." He answered, checking the time. "Listen, is Daniel around?" Sasha had never been one for beating around the bush and now was no time to start.

"Uh yeah but..." Marty began.

"Give him the phone, mate." He said quickly. Sasha was met with silence. "It's about Payson." He confessed, knowing that if nothing else would work, this would. An hour later, Sasha was still on the phone, working on the Internet to secure two plane tickets for he and Payson to leave Sunday afternoon.

After a few hours of sleep, Sasha got up at seven and quietly went around the house gathering what they would need for their trip. He sent a quick email to their assistant coaches explaining that they would be out of town until Wednesday with an attached list detailing what he intended to be done for each of the elites training. It was nearly ten before he decided to wake Payson. They usually slept in on Sundays and he was determined for the day to be everything she could want it to be, including lazy.


End file.
